Dianella (plant)
Dianella | |
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Dianella sp. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Asphodelaceae |
Subfamily: | Hemerocallidoideae |
Genus: | Dianella Lamarck ex. A.L. Jussieu |
Type species | |
Dianella ensata ( Thunberg) R.J.F. Henderson | |
Synonyms[1] | |
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Dianella is a monocot genus of flowering plants.[2] They are commonly called flax lilies.
In the APG II system of plant classification, Dianella was placed in the family Hemerocallidaceae. When that system was replaced by APG III in 2009, Hemerocallidaceae was combined with two other families,[3] called Asphodelaceae in the APG IV system.[4]
Dianella ranges from Japan to India, thence south to Australia and New Zealand; it also occurs on many Pacific Islands. About half of the species are native to Australia.[5] Several species are grown for their attractive foliage and shiny, blue to purple berries.[6] Estimates of the number of species range from 20[2] to more than 40.[1] The type species for the genus is Dianella ensata,[7] now a synonym of Dianella ensifolia.[8]
Dianella is not well understood taxonomically and is in much need of revision. It is closely related to Thelionema and Herpolirion.[9] Not all taxonomists recognize the genus. In one paper on the classification of Xanthorrhoeaceae, Dianella and six other genera were subsumed in the genus Phormium.
Description
Characteristics:
- Underground rhizome
- Long, strappy leaves up to 1 meter long, ranging from deep to pale green, to blue-green
- Blue flowers in spring, with 3 petals, 3 sepals, and prominent yellow stamens
- Shiny blue to purple berries up to 1.5 centimeters in diameter, spherical or elongated with spongy pulp and shiny black seeds
Taxonomy
The genus name Dianella was published by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1786 in his Encyclopédie Méthodique. Botanique,[10] but this did not validly establish the botanical name because Lamarck did not include a description of the new genus.[11] Antoine Laurent de Jussieu made it a correct name in 1789 when he published a description in the first edition of his Genera Plantarum.[12][13] In an etymology of this name, Umberto Quattrocchi states that Dianella is "diminutive of Diana, the mythical goddess of hunting, the sylvan goddess.[14]
Species
As of September 2014, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognizes 41 species:[1]
- Dianella acutifolia Schlittler - New Caledonia
- Dianella adenanthera (G.Forst.) R.J.F.Hend. - numerous Pacific Islands
- Dianella amoena G.W.Carr & P.F.Horsfall - Tasmania, Victoria
- Dianella atraxis R.J.F.Hend. - Queensland
- Dianella bambusifolia Hallier f. - Queensland, New Guinea
- Dianella boliviana Schlittler - Bolivia
- Dianella brevicaulis (Ostenf.) G.W.Carr & P.F.Horsfall - southern Australia
- Dianella brevipedunculata R.J.F.Hend. - Queensland
- Dianella caerulea Sims - New Guinea, eastern Australia
- Dianella callicarpa G.W.Carr & P.F.Horsfall - Victoria
- Dianella carolinensis Lauterb. - Micronesia
- Dianella congesta R.Br. - Queensland, New South Wales
- Dianella crinoides R.J.F.Hend. - Queensland, New South Wales
- Dianella daenikeri Schlittler - New Caledonia
- Dianella dentata Schlittler - southeastern China
- Dianella ensifolia (L.) DC. (syn. D. ensata) Chimanimani Mountains of southern Africa; Indian Subcontinent, China, Madagascar, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Japan, islands in Indian Ocean
- Dianella fruticans R.J.F.Hend. - Queensland
- Dianella haematica Heenan & de Lange - North Island of New Zealand
- Dianella incollata R.J.F.Hend. - Queensland
- Dianella intermedia Endl. - Norfolk Island of Australia
- Dianella javanica (Blume) Kunth - Southeast Asia, Papuasia
- Dianella latissima Heenan & de Lange - North Island of New Zealand
- Dianella longifolia R.Br. - widespread in Australia
- Dianella monophylla Hallier f. - New Guinea
- Dianella nervosa R.J.F.Hend. - Queensland, New South Wales
- Dianella nigra Colenso - North + South Islands of New Zealand
- Dianella odorata Blume - Maluku, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Queensland, Northern Territory
- Dianella pavopennacea R.J.F.Hend. - Queensland
- Dianella pendula Schlittler - îles Loyauté of New Caledonia
- Dianella plicata Schlittler - New Caledonia
- Dianella porracea (R.J.F.Hend.) Horsfall & G.W.Carr - Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia
- Dianella prunina R.J.F.Hend. - New South Wales
- Dianella rara R.Br. - Queensland
- Dianella revoluta R.Br. - widespread in Australia
- Dianella saffordiana Fosberg & Sachet - Guam
- Dianella sandwicensis Hook. & Arn. - New Caledonia, Hawaiian Islands, Marquesas
- Dianella serrulata Hallier f. - Queensland, New Guinea
- Dianella stipitata Schlittler - New Caledonia
- Dianella tarda Horsfall & G.W.Carr - New South Wales, Victoria
- Dianella tasmanica Hook.f. - Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales
- Dianella tenuissima G.W.Carr - New South Wales
Australian species (incomplete)
- Dianella amoena
- Dianella admixta, berries reported edible
- Dianella bambusifolia, berries reported edible[15]
- Dianella brevicaulis, coast flax-lily[16]
- Dianella brevipedunculata, leaves to 60 cm, flowers & berries hidden within leaves
- Dianella caerulea, Paroo lily, leaves to 60 cm, flower stem to 90 cm
- Dianella congesta, beach flax lily, fruit in tight bunches, berries reported edible and the best-tasting[15]
- Dianella intermedia, found on Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.
- Dianella longifolia, berries reported edible[15]
- Dianella pavopenacea, berries reported edible[15]
- Dianella porracea
- Dianella rara
- Dianella revoluta (including D. admixta),[1] berries reported edible[15]
- Dianella tarda
- Dianella tasmanica, Tasman flax lily, leaves to 80 cm, flower stem to 1.5m, berries not edible[15]
- Dianella tenuissima, recently described tussock-forming species from the Blue Mountains of New South Wales
New Zealand species (incomplete)
- Dianella nigra, known in Maori as turutu
Uses
Some species can be cultivated. They are frost-hardy and grow in full sun or partial shade. They can be propagated by division of the rhizome. Some plants have dense, attractive foliage and showy flowers and fruits.
Reports of the edibility of the fruit range from very poisonous[17][18] to sweet and nutty (such as D. caerulea),[19] and the beach flax lily (D. congesta) is reportedly the best-tasting.[15]
The leaves are used to weave dillies and baskets by Indigenous Australians.[15]
References
- 1 2 3 4 Search for "Dianella", World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2014-09-04
- 1 2 H. Trevor Clifford, Rodney J.F. Henderson, and John G. Conran. 1998. "Hemerocallidaceae" pages 245-253. In: Klaus Kubitzki (editor). 1998. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants volume III. Springer-Verlag: Berlin;Heidelberg, Germany. ISBN 978-3-540-64060-8
- ↑ Mark W. Chase, James L. Reveal, and Michael F. Fay. "A subfamilial classification for the expanded asparagalean families Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae and Xanthorrhoeaceae". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 161(2):132–136.
- ↑ Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2016). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 181 (1): 1–20. doi:10.1111/boj.12385.
- ↑ Starting out with Natives, John Wriggley & Murray Fagg
- ↑ Anthony Huxley, Mark Griffiths, and Margot Levy (1992). The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. The Macmillan Press,Limited: London. The Stockton Press: New York. ISBN 978-0-333-47494-5 (set).
- ↑ Dianella In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: Regnum Vegetabile (see External links below).
- ↑ "Dianella ensata", World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2012-05-25
- ↑ Dion S. Devey, Ilia Leitch, Paula J. Rudall, J. Chris Pires, Yohan Pillon, and Mark W. Chase. "Systematics of Xanthorrhoeaceae sensu lato, with an emphasis on Bulbine". Aliso 22(Monocots: Comparative Biology and Evolution):345-351. ISSN 0065-6275.
- ↑ Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. 1786. Encyclopédie Méthodique: Botanique. 2:176 (See External links below).
- ↑ Rodney J.F. Henderson. 1977. Typification of Dianella Lam. ex Juss. (Liliaceae). Taxon 26(1):131-137.
- ↑ Antoine Laurent de Jussieu (1789), Genera Plantarum, Paris: Herrisant and Barrois, p. 41 (See External links" below)
- ↑ Dianella in International Plant Names Index. (see External links below).
- ↑ Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names volume II. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington,DC;, USA. London, UK. ISBN 978-0-8493-2676-9 (vol. II). (see External links below).
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wild food plants of Australia, Tim Low
- ↑ "Dianella brevicaulis". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
- ↑ http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/112796/garden-plants-poisonous-to-people.pdf, page 8
- ↑ http://www.alpaca.asn.au/docs/about/husbandry/poison_plants.pdf
- ↑ http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/plant_info/aboriginal_bush_foods
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dianella. |
- Australian plants online
- Dianella At: Index Nominum Genericorum At: References At: NMNH Department of Botany
- Dianella genus At: The Plant List
- CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: D-L At: Botany & Plant Science At: Life Science At: CRC Press
- Dianella (page 276) In: Tome Second Of: Encyclopédie Méthodique. Botanique. At: Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Dianella (page 41) At: View Book At: Genera Plantarum [Jussieu] At: Jussieu At: J At: Authors At: BHL
- Dianella At: Plant Names At: IPNI